1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pallet loading apparatus and more specifically to an apparatus capable of placing a load of stacked articles onto a pallet by providing for the lifting of the load, slipping of the pallet beneath the load when raised and lowering of the load onto the pallet, all in conjunction with a roller conveyor intended to carry the load away.
By a load of stacked articles is to be understood any stacked boxes containing food or other products, bottles, bundles of cardboard blanks or any similar articles that can be stacked one over the other with the stacks arranged side by side into a plurality of adjoining piles; the load including a flat support sheet of heavy cardboard or the like for bringing the piles to the pallet-loading apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pallets are extensively used in processing plants for handling various types of products, bundled together or disposed in cases, from one place to another. An object of the present invention is to provide a pallet-loading apparatus that is efficient, easy to build and to operate and that provides for quickly disposing a load onto a pallet.
Before preparing the present application, a search of the prior art was made which has revealed the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
3,151,753--Oct. 6, 1964 PA0 3,190,466--June 22, 1965 PA0 3,269,565--Aug. 30, 1966 PA0 3,363,781--Jan. 16, 1968 PA0 3,442,400--May 6, 1969.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,151,753, a machine is described which is used, among other things, for loading articles on pallets. The articles to be loaded are brought by a first conveyor to a stacker unit including a fork which may either be raised or lowered at will by a power cylinder. When the desired stack of articles is obtained, it is transferred by a second conveyor to the location of and in facing relation with a ram which, when actuated, simply slides the stack from the second mentioned conveyor onto the surface of a pallet.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,466 discloses a machine for stacking and unstacking bins comprising two vertical racks on opposite sides of a conveyor. A lifting mechanism is provided on each rack and these mechanisms serve to grip the second to last one of the stacked bins and raise them so as to allow the last bin, resting on the conveyor, to be removed. Stacking is achieved by reversing the operation. U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,781 describes a similarly operating machine which serves to stack bricks onto pallets.
As to U.S. Pat. No. 3,269,565, it relates to a machine for transferring a load from one pallet to another. According to this patent, a load which has already been placed on a pallet is moved to the center of the machine. A fork then comes to grip the load to allow the pallet to be withdrawn and eliminated. Simultaneously, a replacement pallet is slid by a ram and transferred beneath the load, the fork being then lowered so that the load be placed on the replacement pallet. The fork is then removed and the load and pallet moved away from the center of the machine.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,442,400 is concerned with an apparatus for stacking cartons and, if need be, for laying the thus stacked cartons onto a pallet. In operation, two forks are provided on opposite sides of an elevator frame that can be moved vertically. A first layer of cartons to be stacked, brought by the main conveyor, is lifted by the elevator frame up to the level of the forks which are then brought beneath the layer to hold it while the elevator frame moves down to pick up a second layer and raise it, in turn, at the level of the forks to be held thereby.
While the various patents briefly analyzed above are drawn toward devices for handling stacks of articles, none discloses an apparatus specifically intended to place a pallet beneath a stack of articles in a manner and with means providing a more efficient and quicker operation and at a lower cost than the structures of above noted prior art.